Arval grows fleet by 6.5% in Q1

International leasing and fleet management giant Arval has reported a positive start to the year, announcing a 6.5% increase in its funded fleet at the end of March, compared to the same period of 2021, despite vehicle price rises and global shortages of new vehicle supply.

The company, part of BNP Paribas Group, now runs a fleet of 1,483,317 vehicles, including a growing share of electric models. Arval said 32.7% of its new vehicle orders were now for electrified vehicles, compared to 27.2% at the end of March last year.

Publishing results for the first quarter of 2022, Alain van Groenendael, Arval Chairman and CEO (pictured above), said:“In these first three months of 2022, Arval’s performance has surpassed that of the rest of the market. This is an outstanding achievement, especially considering the obstacles associated with the pandemic, new vehicle shortages, the crisis in Ukraine, and unprecedented challenges in the global macroeconomic environment.”

He added that recent results from the annual Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer indicated that, despite our current turbulent environment, fleet and mobility decision-makers remain optimistic about the future, with 94% expecting their fleets to remain stable or grow over the next three years.   

Surging used car prices

The BNP Paribas results highlighted how Arval had benefited from the prices of used cars hitting particularly high levels, and added that Arval is growing at marginal cost while targeting a 30% improvement in productivity by 2025.

"Revenues at Arval and Leasing Solutions [which provides asset finance] rose by 27.0% compared to the first quarter 2021, to 811 million euros, driven by Arval’s very good performance," said the bank. "Pre-tax income of Arval and Leasing Solutions together thus rose by 54.9% compared to the first quarter 2021, to 419 million euros."